Los Tigres del Norte (English: The Tigers of the North) is a norteo-band ensemble based out of San

Jose, California with origins in Rosa Morada, a sindicatura in Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico.

Contents

1 History
2 Philanthropy
3 Members
4 Former members
5 Discography
6 Singles
7 Films
8 References
9 External links

History

Jorge Hernndez performing in August 2008

The group was started by Jorge Hernndez, his brothers, and his cousins. They then began recording
after moving to San Jose, California in the late 1960s, when all the members were still in their teens.[1]
They were sponsored by a local record company, Discos Fama, owned by an Englishman named Art
Walker, who took them under his wing and helped them find jobs and material, as well as recording all
of their early albums.[1]
The Tigres were at first only locally popular, but took off after Jorge and Art Walker heard a Los
Angeles mariachi singer perform a song in the early 1971 about a couple of drug runners, Emilio Varela
and Camelia la Texana. There had been occasional ballads (corridos, in Mexican terminology) about
the cross-border drug trade ever since Prohibition in the 1920s, but never a song as cinematic as this,
featuring a woman smuggler who shoots the man and takes off with the money. After getting
permission to record this song, Los Tigres del Norte released "Contrabando y traicin" ("Contraband
and Betrayal") in 1974.[2] The song quickly hit on both sides of the border, inspired a series of movies,
and kicked off one of the most remarkable careers in Spanish-language music.
In norteo/conjunto form (a style featuring accordion that originated along the Texas border region),

Los Tigres del Norte have been able to portray "real life" in a manner that strikes a chord with people
across the Americas. Many of their most popular songs consist of tales or corridos about life, love, and
the struggle to survive in an imperfect world. They regularly touch on the subject of narcotics and
illegal immigration, but they have also shared stories of love and betrayal between a man and a woman.
Together, the band and its public has turned norteo music into an international genre. The band has
modernized the music, infusing it with bolero, cumbia, rock rhythms, waltzes, as well as effects of
machine guns and sirens integrated with the music.
On January 9, 2007, Los Tigres del Norte was honored as a BMI Icon at the 14th annual BMI Latin
Awards. Los Tigres, who were saluted that evening with an all-star musical tribute, were being honored
as BMI Icons for their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." They joined an
elite list that includes such Latin music giants as Juan Luis Guerra and Carlos Santana.[3]
On October 16, 2009, Los Tigres del Norte held a Concert in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon (outside of
Monterrey) at the Annual Expo Guadalupe that lasted 12 hours, breaking their own record of 9 hours
from previous year. It began on Saturday night and ended on Sunday at 9 a.m., not uncommon for Los
Tigres del Norte. They are known for having encores at their concerts that can last more than an hour
after the scheduled ending of the concert.
They have performed before the United States Armed Forces in Japan and South Korea.[4]
In 2010, the band made headlines by joining in a massive international boycott of the U.S. state of
Arizona, in response to the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.[5]
On October 8, 2013, Los Tigres del Norte played at an immigration reform rally on the National Mall
in Washington, D.C. Their setlist included songs that underscored the themes the rally would address
including La Puerta Negra, De Paisano a Paisano, and Mis Dos Patrias. The band was introduced
by then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Mexican-American singer-songwriter and actress,
Lila Downs, also accompanied the group in a series of duets.[6]
In 2014 Los Tigres del Norte released the album Realidades, which contains the song Era Diferente
(meaning She Was Different) about a lesbian teenager who falls in love with her best friend;
according to lead singer and songwriter Jorge Hernandez, this is the first time a norteo group has ever
written a gay love song.[7][8]
The band has sold 32 million records as of 2007.[9] As of 2015 they have six Grammys and six Latin
Grammys and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[8] They received the Special Recognition
(Spanish language) Award at the 26th annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2015, for their song "Era
Diferente" ("She Was Different").[10] The band ranked at number 15 in the list for "The 30 Most
Influential Latin Artists of All Time" by Billboard magazine.[11]

Philanthropy
In May 2000, Los Tigres del Norte founded the Los Tigres del Norte Foundation which is committed to
fostering appreciation and preservation of Mexican and Mexican-American folklore. The Los Tigres

del Norte Foundation donated $500,000 to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, which was
used to digitize over 32,000 Spanish language recordings contained in the Strachwitz Frontera
Collection.[12]

Members

Jorge Hernndez director, lead vocals, accordion

Hernn Hernndez bass, vocals
Eduardo Hernndez accordion, saxophone, bajo sexto, vocals
Luis Hernndez bajo sexto, vocals
scar Lara drums

Former members
Ral Hernndez bajo sexto, vocals (left the group in 1996 to become a soloist)
Guadalupe Olivo saxophone, accordion (left the group in 1988 for health reasons, returned in
1997, then left again in 2001 for the same reasons, and has since performed in Raul Hernndez'
band)
Freddy Hernndez percussion (deceased)